I love being a mother! Why, you say?

I thank the Lord for giving me the incredible responsibility and privilege of being a mother to these 2 special boys.



I love being a mother because I get the most beautiful flowers on Mother's day, and a super cute Mother's Day Out card. Yes, that is my son's cheesy smile and a bent artificial daisy, but I love it.





Last but not least...to see my son take after me (just a little). He lines up his cars and little people just perfectly and feels the need to share his snacks with his cars and trucks.





Nothing profound, but just a few cute photos to share.
Blessings,
Bethany

Out engineered but not conquered

Well, we have been sick around here and so the last week or so has been pretty slow. Slow enough in fact, that Russ got out-engineered on the front porch of our house. Not too long after we moved in to our house, we noticed that the top of one of our porch columns was a favored spot for local bird populations to nest. Shortly after this discovery, Russ engineered (not what he majored in at aTm) and installed an anti-nesting device on the top of the column (basically a few pieces of plywood screwed on top of the post to make a sharp incline so that the birds cannot perch on top of the post to build a nest). This device has yet to be painted so it is easily seen in the pictures below.

This device worked for a couple of years until a very determined bird couple decided to make an attempt at building a nest on top of the post. Seeing the progress of this couple as they began to bring mud and small sticks and plastering them directly on the anti-nesting device, Russ impeded their progress by tearing down what had been accomplished by the birds. He knocked it down a second time after the birds did not get the message the first time. Now, you are probably asking, "Why not just let the birds do their thing and enjoy the opportunity to observe nature at work?". We are happy to let nature run its course but as we observed "nature" on our front porch, "nature" started leaving presents on our concrete as they were building their nest. This is something that Russ did not like seeing on the porch as he walked out the door each day to go to work. Also, the birds made a habit of dive-bombing anyone, including Bethany and the boys, anytime that they walked out the front door of our house. We have two small boys who like to put things in their mouth and touch everything in sight, so Russ decided to take more drastic measures to deter the birds from continuing their nest building (somewhat to Bethany's disapproval). I will spare you the details of what exactly was done but lets just say that Russ sent a message to the bird couple that they cannot forget (well at least one of them, and the other member of the couple has not returned to rebuild the nest). We are happy for these birds to make nests anywhere else in our neighborhood except on our front porch. Here is a picture of the nest that was built before the final discouragement of the nest building. Feel free to voice your opinion about Russ's efforts.

Jax...3 months!

Here are a few pictures from the past week or so. I think Tye has finally accepted Jax as part of the family. He is starting to carry on conversation with him and telling him about his cars and trucks. He is already teaching him his colors and the names of his little people...you know, the important stuff.

Happy Easter!

Here is our family photo for this year...I did not get a chance to take it before Tye jumped into the big mud puddle at my parent's house...so here it is. He loved it, so it makes for a great memory. Below are the last 3 years of Easter pics, and a few videos I have taken recently of the two kiddo's and my wonderful husband...enjoy!

Easter 2009



Easter 2008



Easter 2007

Tye's blackmail photo :) & Jax at 2 months!

Jax had his 2 month appointment this morning and wow...I can't believe it has been 2 months already. He is weighing in at 12 lbs, 14 oz. and 24 inches long. He is in the 95th percentile for both height and weight. That is my boy, and cute as anything! He is smiling and cooing now, and it is nice to have acknowlegement for all of those feedings, burpings and diaper changes.



Yep, here it is the blackmail photo for now...I am sure there will be another one in the future that will replace this one, but the fact that he matched his heels to his shirt is pretty impressive.



Tye helped Russ pull weeds last week, and as you can see from the truck bed...it was a success. The funny thing is that since Russ was using gloves, Tye decided that he needed his gloves, so he came in (by himself) and got my 'Ove Glove out of the cabinet and proceeded to help out.



Here are a few pictures of the kids at the rodeo last week. We will eventually make it into some of these pictures, I hope. Tye had a blast and Jax...well, he enjoyed a chance to catch a few more zzz's.





Blessings,
bethany

A little catch up...

Okay, so it has been 3 weeks again, since our last post...sorry about that. I won't try to catch up on the last 3 weeks, I will just give a little update from the past week, and of course pictures.

We went to Fredericksburg last weekend, for my great-grandmothers 105th birthday party. The whole family was able to make it, and I was so excited to be going out of town for the first time in 4 months. It was going to be Jax's first road trip as well. We had a great trip up and had a chance to visit with our friends, Chris and Adrianne Collins and their 2 little boys. They had a great time playing. Got to F'burg and Tye played hard, rode the tractor and got extremely dirty...I was thinking this was what the rest of the weekend would be like...until about 2:00am when Tye woke up with a fever, vomiting and the big-d. We were hoping for only a 24 hour stomach bug, but unfortunately it lasted a grand 48 hours. Russ was a trooper and took care of Tye so I could keep Jax as far away as possible. I think the rest of us have made it through okay, and Tye is on the mend, but needless to say...what a weekend. I told my aunt that we were going to have to redo that trip, for sure.

Here are the boys on our ride home from F'burg. Tye sick and sleeping with Tigger by his side, and Jax, well...being Jax.



On a lighter note...here is my story for the day. We were getting ready for Tye's nap this afternoon and as we were finishing up reading our books, Russ called with a question, so as I am talking to him, Tye jumps into our bathtub. This was no big deal, he does it all the time when we are in there. So a minute or two later, when I got off the phone, I went in to check on him, bc I did not hear him get out. Where was he? I had no idea and I did not see him anywhere...checked our closets, checked the bathroom, checking our bedroom...went back into the bathroom, but no Tye. I started panicking a little, and so I called out for him "Tye, where are you?"...nothing! Yikes! So, I called again, "TYE!" Then, I heard a little giggle...whew, at least he was around somewhere and was breathing, but where? I had no idea, so I called again, and heard another giggle, but no movement, and finally I tracked the voice to under our sheets on our bed. He was hiding still as a mouse totally under our sheets. That was a first, and it made me nervous. He was so good at hiding and being quiet...what if he did that when we were out? Yikes!

Jax is doing great and is now cooing and smiling when you give him your undivided attention. He still needs a parent to protect him from big brother, but he is working on his boxing moves when I hold a toy above him, he swings at it like a champ. Life is flying by, and we are adjusting. Jax is now giving us about a 5-7 hour stint at night, so we are seeing light at the end of the sleep deprived tunnel. Hope you are all well...

This is Jax at 6 weeks.



Here is an attempt to get Jax smiling...



blessings,
Bethany

Thanks Grammy & Naya!

I can't believe Jax is already 3 weeks old! Where did the time go? I mean, I know where it went, but can't believe it goes so fast. People have warned me about that, so I am trying to cherish every sleepless moment and praying for lots of patience with a 2 year old. I know it has been 3 weeks, and today, I got to spend my first day with both kids and no grandparents. It went pretty well, until dinnertime when Jax was crying to eat, so I was in the middle of feeding, reading books with Tye and the dinger on the oven was going off. Talk about multitasking :). Anyway, we have been so thankful and blessed by "Naya" (my mom), and "Grammy" (Russ's mom) for taking time out of their busy lives to spend with us these past 2 weeks. We appreciated every minute and enjoyed the visiting as well. Here are a few pictures from the past week.

Here is a picture of Jax...actually awake.



It poured down rain last week, and I walked out of my parents house after lunch to find my son and "Tigger" dancing in the rain. They had so much fun, I am just glad I had my camera to catch a few moments. Every child needs this experience, and yes, Tigger has on red baby shoes.





Thanks for playing in he dirt, Grammy!



The last one if of Pappa was trying to teach Tye a few chords, but Tye just wanted to untune the strings.



Blessings,
Bethany